The Air Force awards the Air Force Cross to Staff Sgt. Zachary J. Rhyner, a combat controller with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Air Force Base, N.C., for his heroic actions during a 6.5 battle in Afghanistan’s Shok Valley on April 6, 2008. Rhyner, who was a senior airman at the time of the battle, is the third living Air Force Cross recipient from the Global War on Terrorism and the only living combat controller to receive the Air Force Cross.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.